By Augustine Sankoh
President of the Republic of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio has officially launched the introduction and rollout of 550 000 RTS’S WHO approved vaccine procured by UNICEF with funding from GAVI, becoming the third country in 2024 to introduce this campaign after Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
The launching took place at State House on Thursday 25th April, 2024, marking World Malaria Day.
The Government of Sierra Leone, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and other partners, started vaccination efforts at the Waterloo Health Center. Roll-out to health facilities nationwide will follow, targeting all six-month-old babies at risk of malaria-related death.
“Malaria remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Sierra Leone, accounting for 40.3% of outpatient attendance for all ages and 37.6% of hospitalized cases. Malaria has had an excruciating on Sierra Leoneans. Too many families have experienced the anguish of watching their children suffer from this preventable and treatable disease. But today, we turn a new page in our fight against malaria. With these vaccines for our children under two years old, we embark on a journey of hope and progress,” President Bio said.
Sierra Leone is among the countries with the highest malaria burden globally, with over two million hospital visits annually attributed to the disease, half of these are children under the age of five. Malaria also accounts for 25% of all child deaths in the country.
“With the new, safe, and efficacious malaria vaccine, we now have an additional tool to fight this disease. In combination with insecticide-treated nets, effective diagnosis and treatment, and indoor spraying, no child should die from malaria infection,”Dr Austin Demby, Minister of Health pointed out.
UNICEF, and WHO, along with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, USAID’s Breakthrough ACTION, Save the Children, the President’s Malaria Initiative, and World Vision, have supported national health authorities to strengthen vaccine introduction measures.
“The launch of the malaria vaccine into the routine immunization service marks a laudable venture, ensuring that every child between the ages of 6 to 23 months has access to this life-saving intervention. This initiative not only underscores our commitment to achieving universal health coverage but also reflects our resolve to leave no child behind,” said Liv Elin Indreiten – UNICEF Representative a.i “It is a pivotal moment in our journey towards a malaria-free Sierra Leone, complementing existing interventions such as insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying, and prompt diagnosis and treatment.”
A nationwide malaria campaign to distribute nearly 5.4 million special Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) using a digitized registration system for the very first time, is being rolled out across the country. With $5.3 million from the Global Fund, UNICEF, WHO, and other partners are supporting the Ministry of Health in this effort.
“As a partner to the government and people of this country, the United State will continue to support a wide ranging effort to reach zero malaria by investing an additional USD 60 million this year in SierraLeone,” according to the United State Ambassador David Bryan Hunt.
Through the Accelerating Malaria Vaccine Introduction and Roll-out in Africa (AMVIRA) initiative, WHO also supported the development of a dashboard to track readiness assessment, vaccine supply and vaccination roll-out at the national and district levels. This tool will be an asset in generating and sharing key data to better understand vaccine uptake and delivery.
